1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nozzles, and more particularly, nozzles In perforate membranes for use in fluid transfer devices. Such devices include aerosol generators, fluid pumps, and filter membranes. In such devices, fluid is transferred through the nozzles in the membrane. However in each case, the membrane provides certain properties that can be related to the geometry of the nozzles contained therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Perforate membranes are known in aerosol creating devices, where bulk liquid is transferred from the source side of the membrane, through the nozzles, and disrupted so as to create droplets at the opposite (emergent) side of the membrane. Various devices are disclosed in WO-A-95/15822, U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,179, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,456 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,082, for creating aerosol droplets using a vibrating perforate membrane. These devices use some differing methods for transferring the liquid through the nozzles, and to create droplets at opposite side of the membrane.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,456, bulk liquid is brought at ambient or near ambient hydrostatic pressure to a surface of the membrane (liquid-side), at which the cross-sectional area of the nozzles intersecting this surface is larger than the cross-sectional area of the same nozzles intersecting the opposite surface (air-side). For a stationary membrane, a liquid that wets the membrane material, and ambient pressure conditions, the fluid meniscus within the nozzle travels through the nozzle by capillary action to stabilise its position at the air-side of the nozzle (where the surface area of the meniscus is at a minimum). Thus the nozzle becomes liquid-filled. During operation, a periodic bending-mode vibration is generated in the perforate membrane, which harmonically displaces the membrane towards and away from the bulk liquid, resulting in a varying hydraulic pressure in the liquid near to the liquid-side of the membrane. Such pressure causes liquid to transfer through the nozzles in a periodic manner. The transfer is from the liquid side to the air-side as the pressure increases above the ambient hydrostatic pressure. When the momentum with which the liquid is transferred through a nozzle and towards the air side of the perforate membrane is sufficiently large, part of the liquid so transferred detaches from the bulk liquid and, under the influence of its surface tension, it then forms a droplet, which travels away from the air-side of the membrane. This can occur simultaneously for many or all nozzles within the membrane.
The droplet diameter ejected from such devices is typically between 1 and 2 times the average diameter of the smallest cross-sectional area of the nozzle. We have found that this droplet diameter depends also on the degree of surface roughness in or near to the nozzle at its intersection with the air-side of the membrane. Such roughness may be in the form of micro-capillary structures on the surface, which easily wet with liquid, causing some liquid volume to reside on the air-side of the membrane throughout the hydraulic pressure cycle. In this case, the liquid meniscus of the ejecting liquid in the positive segment of the pressure cycle is relatively poorly pinned to the circumference of the nozzle, and connects with the meniscus of the volume of liquid external to the nozzle. We have found that such a loss of control over the geometry of the liquid meniscus during the droplet creation process can lead to an enlargement of the droplets ejected from such nozzles and to poor control over ejection direction, due to collection of additional liquid volume from the air-side surface of the membrane. U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,456 further comprise nozzle geometries without a marked and sudden change in both cross-sectional area or in the rate of change of cross-sectional area, as a function of the distance through the thickness of the membrane between one surface and the other. Examples of such a geometry include a trumpet taper (for example formed in electro-formed nickel—“Veconic”, from Stork Veco BV, of Eerbeck, The Netherlands), and a conical taper (for example formed by laser drilling or etch process—“Vecoplus”, also from Stork Veco BV). Within such nozzles, surface tension, viscous drag and hydraulic pressure forces will dominate the liquid flow through such nozzles.
When the hydraulic pressure in the liquid is less than the ambient pressure, such nozzle geometries have the disadvantage that at the point during the vibration cycle and when the liquid associated with the nozzle is accelerated towards the bulk liquid, the fluid meniscus within the nozzle may relatively easily travel through the length of the nozzle and towards the bulk liquid such that the nozzle becomes partially or fully air-filled. Therefore, such geometries use additional hydraulic energy in both the negative and the positive pressure segments of the vibration cycle to overcome the viscous drag associated with refilling that nozzle from the bulk liquid in each cycle before it can generate a droplet from the liquid meniscus at the air-side. To prevent excessive meniscus travel within the nozzle during the periodic pressure cycle, a marked and sudden increase in the rate of growth of the cross-sectional area of the nozzle is advantageous, by providing a potential energy barrier to the liquid meniscus as it moves along the length of the nozzle (that is; the surface area of the liquid meniscus must increase more rapidly to overcome the discontinuity in cross-sectional area within the nozzle). In the same way and on the positive segment of the hydraulic pressure cycle, liquid contained within the nozzle and behind the pinned meniscus will quickly refill the small air-filled portion of the nozzle to generate a droplet from the air-side, without losing much hydraulic energy through viscous drag as it does so.
In our WO-A-95/15822 we disclose an alternative method for generating droplets that is based on capillary-waves. In this method, the orientation of the nozzle geometry is reversed relative to the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,456. Instead, the smallest cross-sectional area of the nozzle is located at the surface of the membrane to which the bulk liquid is introduced (liquid-side). The cross-sectional area of the nozzle increases through the thickness of the membrane away from this surface and towards the opposite surface (air-side). As before, at ambient hydrostatic pressure, the liquid meniscus will move to a position of minimum energy where the cross-sectional area of the nozzle is smallest. In this device, the nozzle is not liquid filled, rather the nozzle is substantially air-filled.
As before, during operation a periodic bending-mode vibration is generated in the perforate membrane, harmonically displacing the membrane towards and away from the bulk liquid, resulting in a harmonically varying hydraulic pressure in the liquid near to the liquid-side of the membrane. In addition to this harmonic pressure, the ambient hydrostatic pressure in the bulk liquid (the pressure that exists in the absence of the vibrationally induced harmonic pressure) is reduced relative to the air pressure at the opposite surface of the membrane. In this way the fluid meniscus is prevented from migrating along the nozzle under the influence of the varying hydraulic pressure, and is usually thereby maintained at the smallest cross-sectional area position. The harmonic hydraulic pressure is believed now to act directly on the fluid meniscus to generate a surface capillary wave within each meniscus. This capillary wave is believed to be centred within the circumference of the meniscus and to oscillate in the direction normal to the meniscus to create a capillary wave crest (cusp) at the centre of the nozzle. When liquid near to the cusp of the capillary wave has sufficient vibrational momentum, it a droplet is generated with a characteristic diameter of approximately λc/3 where λc is the capillary wavelength defined in the following expressions:ρωc2=σk3
  k  =            2      ⁢      π              λ      c      where ρ is the liquid density, ωc is the angular frequency of the capillary wave, σ is the surface tension of the liquid meniscus, and k is the wave number.
In WO-A-95/15822, the preferred condition is that the frequency of the capillary wave is selected from the equations above, such that the diameter of the liquid meniscus within each nozzle is the same as the capillary wavelength, and thereby the droplet ejected from the cusp of each capillary wave has a diameter which is smaller than the diameter of the smallest cross-sectional area of the corresponding nozzle.
Other operating conditions are also found to be satisfactory, including those in which the oscillating frequency of the perforate membrane is lower than that required to produce capillary waves of angular frequency ωc (see for example our WO-A-00/47334).
In such devices, the droplet must transfer through the nozzle from the liquid-side to the air side in order to create an aerosol droplet. Successful transfer of this liquid droplet requires that the capillary wave ejects the droplet along the long-axis of the nozzle to minimise the risk of this droplet impacting on the inner surfaces of the nozzle.
These devices have the disadvantage that if such impact-occurs within the nozzle, then at least part of the liquid contained within the impacting droplet deposits upon part of the inner surface of the nozzle. Then a catastrophic failure of droplet ejection can occur. In order to reduce the risk of droplets impacting within the nozzles of such devices, it is advantageous to provide nozzles with large rates of increase of cross-sectional area between the liquid meniscus and the air side of the membrane.
Nozzles with large rates of increase of cross-sectional area between one side of the membrane and the other are difficult to fabricate since relatively small errors in the depth of any forming process from nozzle to nozzle will result in large errors in the cross-sectional area at the intersection between the nozzle and either surface of the membrane (that is, the nozzle aperture). For example, such errors will cause significant variations in the shape and size of the liquid meniscus within the nozzle, arising from the diameter of the meniscus. This will result in a dispersion of capillary wave frequencies across the single perforate membrane, thereby reducing the number of nozzles supporting capillary waves whose optimum excitation frequency is well matched to the vibration frequency of the perforate membrane. Therefore, to enable a nozzle fabrication process to create a nozzle with a large rate of increase of cross-sectional area between the liquid side of the membrane and the air side of the membrane for such devices, it is greatly preferred to have a portion of the nozzle having a slow rate of change of cross-sectional area in the region of the intersection between the nozzle and the liquid-side of the membrane.
Therefore, for both the devices of the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,456 and those described in WO-A-95/15822 and WO-A-00/47334, it is desirable to provide nozzles having a portion with a slow rate of change of cross-sectional area and another portion having a rapid rate of change of cross-sectional area, and preferable for the transition between those two portions to be marked and sudden. Perforate membranes are also used to create fluid (meaning liquid or gas) pumping devices. In the general case fluid is transferred through the nozzles in both directions, but the nozzles have a resistance to flow which is not equal in both directions, resulting in a net fluid flow in one direction after one or more complete cycles. Devices of this type are disclosed in CH-A-280 618, and WO-94/19609, wherein tapered nozzles in a chamber wall, plate, or membrane are subjected to cyclic fluid flow in both directions through these tapered nozzles, but resulting in a net forward pumping effect.
In CH-A-280 618, it is disclosed that a perforate plate containing tapered nozzles is displaced forwards and backwards in a fluid-filled chamber, and alternatively that a perforate plate is fixed and a separate diaphragm positioned within the walls of the fluid chamber drives the fluid forwards and backwards through the nozzles in the plate. The flow of fluid through the nozzles in this reciprocating plate is restricted by unequal turbulence effects known elsewhere (WO-94/19609) as ‘nozzle’ and ‘diffuser’ flow. Such unequal turbulence effects result in a net transfer of fluid in the diffuser direction of fluid flow, wherein the cross-sectional area of the nozzle is increasing.
In general, such devices transfer a large total volume of fluid backwards and forwards through each nozzle, that is significantly greater than the net pumped volume of fluid. Such devices are therefore subject to more viscous fluid drag than unidirectional pumps (such as positive displacement pumps) providing an equivalent net flow. This requires excess driving power to overcome these viscous losses. Viscous drag in a laminar fluid flow within a narrow channel is characterised by Poiseuille's equation for capillary flow (Gases, Liquids and Solids, D. Tabor, 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press (1979):
  Q  =                    π        ⁢                                  ⁢                  r          4                            8        ⁢        η              ⁢          (                                    p            2                    -                      p            1                          l            )      where Q is the fluid flow rate, r is the radius of the capillary (or nozzle), η is the viscosity of the fluid, and
  (                    p        2            -              p        1              l    )is the average pressure gradient along the capillary channel. Therefore, the flow rate is strongly limited by the radius of the nozzle, and especially by the smallest radius of the nozzle. In these nozzles this viscosity limitation dictates that a much higher-pressure gradient is required to generate equivalent flow rates to those observed through nozzles with only a slightly larger radius.
Therefore it is desirable to control precisely the radius of the narrowest section of the nozzle geometry while also minimising the length of the same section, in order to maximise the pressure gradient. In this way the viscous drag of the fluid flow within each nozzle will be optimised to provide the same flow performance both from each nozzle in the membrane and from each pumping device.
Perforate membranes are also used in commonly available thickness-absorption and surface-rejecting fluid (meaning liquid or gas) filters, where fluid is transferred through the nozzles in one direction only. Solid particles suspended within such fluid and with all linear dimensions greater than or equal to the smallest diameter of the nozzles contained in the membrane do not pass through that nozzle. Thus a filter membrane of this type will remove those particles, which are larger than or equal to the minimum diameter of the nozzle, from the fluid transferred through the nozzles.
These devices are susceptible to two limitations, which govern the efficiency of such a filter membrane. In the first limitation, the spread in the diameter of the smallest cross-section of each nozzle should be as narrow as possible, in order that the fluid flow through each nozzle is subjected to the same degree of filtration. The spread in nozzle diameter therefore provides a direct indication of the sharpness of the cut-off in the diameter of particulates, which are allowed to pass through such nozzles. In the second limitation, the flow rate of fluid through such filter membranes is determined by the same viscous drag as described above in relation to the fluid pump.
Therefore, it is desirable to maintain a constant radius of the smallest cross-section of each nozzle and furthermore it is also important for a given pressure differential across the faces of the membrane, to maximise the pressure gradient within such nozzles by minimising the length of the smallest cross-sectional portion of the nozzle.
Various laser drilling processes are described in WO-A-99/01317, FR-A-2112586, WO-A-90/08619, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,280, DE-A-19636429 and EP-A-0729827 in relation to the penetration of materials in a controlled manner using laser radiation. It is also known that the geometry of such penetration is difficult to control accurately below 10 μm diameter. In aerosol devices, nozzle pumps and filter membranes, small nozzle diameters are desirable to respectively achieve inhalable droplets for medical drug delivery to the nose and/or lungs, high pressure fluid pump delivery, and fine high quality particle filters. One reason for this difficulty is the limited control of excess heating and ablation of material from the nozzle. This is commonly addressed through the use of a photo-detector positioned either above or below the material to detect the moment at which sufficient material has been removed from the nozzle, and controlling the laser energy in response to this detection and thereby prevent further unnecessary material heating and ablation. In this way some control may be provided over the depth of the laser machined feature, however this remains insufficient to also accurately control the diameter of the nozzle below 10 μm diameter at the intersection with the opposite surface of the membrane.
Another reason for this difficulty is that the thickness of the material required to be penetrated by the laser beam is substantial; typically of the order of 25 μm to 200 μm for the aerosol generating devices, nozzle-plate pumps and filters described above. However, many of the applications of these devices also require 10 μm diameter or smaller nozzles, which would result in aspect ratios (of minimum nozzle diameter to membrane thickness) of between 2.5 and 20. Known thermal laser drilling techniques, especially those used with metallic membranes, may be controlled to produce only limited aspect ratio features (usually <3). For example, aerosol devices, nozzle pumps, and filter membranes; formed with in such aspect ratio limitations will suffer from low membrane stiffness, and cannot generate (or withstand) the amplitude of the operating pressures described above that are desirable for their effective operation. In order to make a droplet from an aerosol device, whose diameter is such that the droplet is respirable, then the nozzle diameter must be less than ø10 μm. By known thermal laser drilling techniques, this membrane must be less than 30 μm thick, and membranes of such thickness are found not to be robust in use.
However, forming nozzles in the manner suggested in the prior art using laser drilling techniques leaves the nozzles with relatively course surface finishes and therefore it is desirable to polish or smooth the surfaces. A typical way of doing this would be to electro-polish them, but, with tapered nozzles this would involve removing material from the internal surface of the nozzle with the result that the diameter of the smaller aperture of the nozzle is increased beyond the desired value, as the electro-polishing process removes material generally normal to the surface within the nozzle at any point, making it extremely difficult to control the diameter unless the shape is known very precisely and the control is achieved also very precisely.
There is a need therefore for a process which can overcome this difficulty.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of forming perforate membrane for use in a liquid transport device, by applying laser energy selectively to a first surface of the membrane in the form of a pulsed, focused beam to form a plurality of nozzles each having a throat portion opening at one end through the opposite surface of the perforate membrane and a smoothly curved outwardly diverging portion extending from the other end of the throat portion to the first surface of the perforate membrane, characterised by
thereafter electro-polishing the first surface of the membrane and the surface of the diverging portion of the nozzles to remove surface imperfections, and controlling the electro-polishing so as to remove material from the surface of the diverging portion of the nozzles to a depth less than the length of the throat portion.
Because of the presence of the throat portion, essentially narrower than the diverging portion, removing material from the diverging portion by the electro-polishing process substantially affects only the length of the throat portion, so that the diameter remains substantially unaffected.
The invention also includes a perforate membrane manufactured by such a process and a fluid transport device including such a membrane.
The laser energy may be applied in two steps to form the nozzles, between which steps the distance between the laser focus and the first surface of the membrane and/or the pulse energy of the laser beam is adjusted.
The nozzle described in the present invention contains such a throat portion with a relatively constant cross-sectional area, extending between the opposite surface of the membrane and a diverging portion of the nozzle that intersects with the first surface of the membrane. This provides a reliable and repeatable throat diameter, and also provides a relatively short throat portion compared to the thickness of the membrane, thereby increasing the pressure gradient along the throat portion of the nozzle and in so doing this will limit the effects of viscous drag. The throat portion dominates the viscous flow even through relatively thick membranes, since the diverging portion passes fluid relatively freely to the throat portion because it has a cross-sectional area which is always greater than the throat portion. Therefore, this nozzle provides a flow channel, which provides a method for optimising the viscous drag associated with such fluid pumping devices as disclosed in CH-A-280 618 and WO-94/19609.
We have developed a percussion laser drilling process that addresses limitations of other laser processes, to create a nozzle of controlled diameter and taper. This process may be employed on a wide range of membrane materials, including metals, ceramics, glass and polymers. In addition this new process enables high-speed automatic focus control necessary for manufacturing these perforate membranes in high volume.
In summary, this method operates as follows:                a. Provide a focused laser spot, such that the distance between this laser spot and the first surface of the membrane can be altered. The optical axis contains the positions of maximum laser energy density at all points along the focused portion of the laser beam. The optical axis is arranged such that it is incident to the membrane at the desired angle of the nozzle to the membrane surface, which is usually (but not necessarily) 90° for planar membranes. This angle may be different from 90° particularly where the membrane is non-planar.        b. Position the membrane material such that the laser focus will fall either above or below the thickness of the membrane. By changing this distance along the optical axis between the first surface of the membrane and the laser focus position, we can control the area of the illuminated surface of membrane.        c. Illuminate the first surface of the membrane with pulsed and focused laser radiation with a fluence in excess of the material ablation threshold over a controlled surface area. Material is thereby removed from the thickness of the material through and below the illuminated surface. After a predetermined number of pulses, known by prior experiment or otherwise to be insufficient for the laser beam to penetrate through the thickness of the material, the laser radiation is switched off. This step forms the diverging portion of the required nozzle.        d. Reduce the distance between the laser focus position and the first surface of the membrane by a predetermined amount along the laser axis such as to reduce the area of the surface illuminated at a given illumination intensity in accordance with the cross-sectional area of the required nozzle at the interface between the diverging portion and the throat portion of the nozzle. Also adjust the pre-set laser pulse energy such that the laser fluence over this smaller surface within the nozzle will be approximately equivalent to that used to create the diverging portion.        e. Illuminate the membrane for a predetermined number of pulses to remove the remaining material thickness within the throat of the required nozzle. The pulse at which laser light first penetrates through the whole thickness of the material is detected by a photo-detector positioned on the opposite surface of the membrane.        f. At the same or similar settings, further laser pulses are applied to the nozzle after the first penetration pulse to clear unwanted debris from the nozzle intersection with the opposite surface, to create a substantially round and smooth cross-sectional area of the nozzle.        g. The number of laser pulses required to first penetrate the through the throat of the nozzle Nt is compared to the number of pulses predetermined for the creation of such portion Nset in the following way:Nt−Nset=Nerror        h. If Nerror is greater than 0, then there was an insufficient membrane material removal rate during the formation of this nozzle. In the absence of other uncontrolled effects, this is usually due to small variation in the set distance between the initial laser focus position and the first surface of the membrane, relative to that optimised for the predetermined laser settings. To correct for this variation, the distance between the initial laser focus position and the membrane surface is reduced by a small and predetermined amount. Similarly, if Nerror is less than 0 then the distance between the initial laser focus position and the membrane surface is increased by a small and predetermined amount.        
This method results in the formation of the nozzle geometry described above, in which the diverging portion of the nozzle is formed first through a predetermined portion of the thickness of the membrane. The throat portion is then formed to connect the diverging portion of the nozzle to the opposite surface of the membrane through the remaining thickness of the material.
The divergence of the diverging portion of the nozzle arises from the nature of the laser ablation process. This process (which is a complex process and imperfectly understood) is now described.
The laser radiation transfers energy into the surface of the material. This energy causes highly localised heating of the membrane material on and under and around the illuminated surface. If the laser power density is sufficiently high, then direct ablation of the material occurs at the membrane surface. At a lower power threshold, the laser energy transfers into thermal energy in both the molecular structure and electron distribution (especially in the case of metals) within the material, resulting in the formation of a localised molten pool of material (thermal melt). Below this lower power threshold the laser energy will cause mechanical and structural damage to the material as the local laser heating anneals and deforms the material, but will not remove it.
During the ablation process, material is removed more quickly from areas of the illuminated surface where the laser power density (fluence) is highest. At the initial pulse, this will match the profile of the incident laser power density over the surface of the membrane. In a focused laser beam, this power distribution may be approximated to a Gaussian profile, thereby concentrating the ablation towards the centre of the illuminated surface. As the ablation process proceeds through the thickness of the material, a curved surface begins to form whereby there is a smooth gradient between the deeper centre and the perimeter of the illuminated surface. As the ablation process moves deeper into the thickness of the membrane, and after a predetermined number of incident laser pulses, the diameter of the illuminated membrane surface and the incident laser power density is changed by relative adjustment of the laser focus position and the laser pulse energy. This results in either a reduction, or an increase in the ablation rate as a function of the ablation depth, depending on whether the ablating surface is moving away from or towards the laser focus position, respectively. For better process stability, the first surface of the membrane is preferably positioned beyond the laser focus position in order that the ablation rate naturally reduces as a function of ablation depth to form the diverging portion. In this way it is found that better control may be exercised over the depth of the diverging portion, and thereby over the position of the interface between the diverging and the throat portions of the nozzle within the thickness of the membrane material.
In the case of metallic membranes, the wall of this curved surface becomes lined with thermal melt, which solidifies to form a relatively smooth re-cast melt layer. Furthermore, the smooth walls now begin to reflect at least some of the incident laser radiation towards the centre of the curved surface. This further increases the material ablation rate at the centre of the illuminated surface. Above the surface, the high energy of the ablation process forms a plasma. This plasma has the effects of scattering and absorbing some of the incident laser radiation, thereby distribution thermal energy over the membrane surface. The pressure within the plasma also drives some of the laser melt away from the inside of the curved surface at the ablation site, from where it flows into a radially expanding distribution of thermal melt which re-casts at and beyond the intersection of the diverging portion with the first surface of the membrane.
These processes described above result in a curved and diverging cavity in the first portion of the membrane thickness wherein the cross-sectional area of the cavity reduces between the first surface and the base of the cavity within the thickness of the membrane. This cavity will approximate to a part-spherical profile in general to reflect the incident laser beam profile, and the distribution of re-cast melt around its circumference.
The bottom of this diverging portion is substantially flat with a tangential plane being parallel to the plane containing either surface of the membrane. This ensures that there is a relatively well defined surface through which the throat portion of the nozzle may be formed through the remaining thickness of the membrane. In the method described above, the throat portion is formed using the portion of the laser beam near to the laser focus position. The laser beam profile near to the laser focus position is limited by diffraction to form a curved waist between the converging and diverging portions of the beam, rather than the sharp point implied by a simple linear ray diagram. This waist feature provides a relatively slowly changing beam profile at various positions orthogonal to the beam axis and near to the laser focus position. Therefore, as the laser beam is used to form the throat portion through the remaining thickness of the material, the laser pulse energy remains substantially un-changed. Additional laser pulses are applied after the first pulse to penetrate the throat portion is detected by a photodetector positioned on the opposite side of the membrane to the incident laser beam. This process results in a relatively smooth-walled and slowly varying cross-sectional area along the length of the throat portion.
The number of pulses, as detected by the photodetector, required to penetrate the throat portion to form the preceding nozzle is used to control the distance between the initial laser focus and the first surface of the membrane for the subsequent nozzle to be formed at an adjacent position. This method is practised by the inventors for controlling the initial focus position of the laser beam at a constant distance from the first surface of the membrane, thereby correcting for normal variations in the flatness of the membrane. This focus controlling process is integrated within the laser drilling process and thereby presents no additional step or time penalty to execute such process. In this way, the laser focus may be accurately controlled relative to the surface of the membrane in a high speed manner (which is desirable when forming many nozzles in each membrane, for example to enable high volume manufacturing of such perforate membranes).
Especially in the case of metal membranes, and resulting from the thermal nature of the laser process used to form each nozzle, re-cast melt is deposited on the inner surface of the nozzle and on both surfaces of the membrane surrounding each nozzle. This re-cast melt has a capillary-like structure which causes unwanted fluid flow over the surface of the membrane, resulting especially in uncontrolled droplet creation from aerosol devices. Also, the brittle nature of the re-cast melt presents a significant risk of fracture of some of this material during device operation. This can result in potentially dangerous particulate contamination in the fluid delivered by the fluid transport device.
Particularly in the case of metallic membranes, in order to remove the unwanted re-cast melt from the surface of the membrane and from within the nozzles, it is desirable to use a cleaning process prior to the completion of the membrane manufacture. We have found that electropolishing provides such a process.
The electropolishing process is well known in the metal finishing industry, and can be referenced as a standard process, see for example L. J. Durney, Electroplating Engineering Handbook, Part 1, Ch. 3-D, Fourth Edition, Chapman & Hall, NY, 1996, and J. Brown, Advanced Machining Technology Handbook, Part VII, ISBN 007008243X, 1998. Electropolishing provides a high quality surface finish to a range of metal surfaces including stainless steel, titanium, nickel, gold, Hastalloy, copper, bronze, brass, beryllium-copper alloys and aluminium. The electric field is applied between an anode to which the metal component (membrane) is attached and a cathode, immersed together in a liquid electrolyte solution. At the surface of this component, the electric field lines impinge at right angles to the conducting surface. At regions of the surface where the radius of curvature is small, the electric field gradient becomes very steep, attracting a higher rate of dielectrophoretic migration of the electrolyte towards these regions. As a result of this, these regions are etched most strongly by the electrolyte, to remove metal ions from the sharp surface features on the membrane surface. This preferential material removal acts to increase the radius of curvature of the metal surface, and thereby smooth the surface by removing sharp features. Advantageously, we have defined a new method of electropolishing (see description related to the FIG. 5) in which the electropolishing may be applied selectively to each side of the membrane, thereby preventing over-etching of the finer details of the nozzle geometry, in particular the diameter of the throat portion.
The inventors have found that conventional electropolishing is inadequate to remove undesirable re-cast melt formed by the above laser drilling process; but have also found a new method of electropolishing related to the specific geometry of the nozzles claimed herein is successful at removing that undesirable re-cast melt whilst preserving the desirable features of the laser drilled nozzle geometry described above.
Thus, the nozzle geometry contains at least two portions distributed through the thickness of the membrane. The both portions may be substantially circular in cross-section, characterized by varying cross-sectional area.
The first portion is preferably a substantially cylindrical geometry intersecting the opposite surface of the membrane at one end. This first portion is known as the throat of the nozzle. At the opposite surface, the intersection with the throat portion provides a well defined and substantially circular opening which usually contains the narrowest cross-sectional area of the whole nozzle. In some cases the throat portion will also contain a small increase in cross-sectional area through the membrane thickness in the direction away from the opposite surface.
The second portion is characterised by a diverging cross-sectional area through the thickness of the membrane, connecting to the other end of the throat portion and diverging in the direction between the other end of the throat portion and the first surface of the membrane. The throat portion and the diverging portion of the nozzle are substantially coaxial.
At the intersection between the throat portion and the diverging portion, the cross-sectional areas are continuous, however the rate of change of the cross-sectional area as a function of distance through the membrane thickness shows a sudden and marked change at the intersection. Therefore at this intersection, a step exists between the two portions and within the thickness of the membrane.
More than two portions may also be present in such nozzles. In that case a number of diverging portions are distributed between the other end of the throat portion and the first surface. These diverging portions are distributed in order of increasing cross-sectional area between the other end of the throat portion, and the first surface of the membrane. The cross-sectional areas at the intersection of all portions within the thickness of the membrane are continuous. In the same way as in the two-portion nozzle, the rate of change of cross-sectional area, as a function of distance through the membrane thickness, shows a sudden and marked change at the intersection between the throat portion and the first diverging portion connected thereto.